Trump's IVF report generates buzz and caution ahead of release

Yahoo

22-05-2025

A highly anticipated White House report about in vitro fertilization (IVF) and infertility that could make sweeping recommendations on making the procedure more accessible is now in the hands of President Trump and may be released soon.
Representatives from IVF advocacy groups, for-profit clinics, and conservative think tanks have been meeting regularly with administration officials since February, when Trump signed an executive order calling for a menu of recommendations to improve IVF access.
The White House said the report was delivered to the president Monday, and he is reviewing it.
'The Domestic Policy Council has worked closely with external stakeholder groups over the past 90 days to deliver on President Trump's executive order to formulate a plan on expanding IVF access for American families,' administration spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to The Hill.
'This is a key priority for President Trump, and the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) has completed its recommendations,' Desai added.
The White House didn't offer details about the contents of the report or when it will be released.
But industry representatives and fertility doctors who participated in meetings with the White House said they came away feeling optimistic about what the report could recommend. Senior administration officials — including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Vince Haley, head of the DPC — seemed engaged, they said, and well-versed on fertility issues.
Some of the ideas presented included mandating Tricare insurance to cover IVF for military members and declaring IVF an 'essential health benefit' under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), so all ACA exchange plans must cover it.
Some of the actions can be done with an executive order, while others may need congressional intervention.
'I would say, if anything, I was encouraged by the meeting. Sometimes you walk into these meetings and people on the other side have a preconceived idea what they want,' but that didn't seem to be the case, said TJ Farnsworth, president of the Fertility Providers Alliance.
Farnsworth said he met with White House officials in March.
Kaylen Silverberg, a fertility clinic doctor from Texas and chair of the advisory board of Americans for IVF, said he's been in regular contact with officials about how best to expand access to IVF.
'At every single level, at every single conversation, I've been floored by how serious they all are and by how well-informed they are,' Silverberg said. 'I had very objective high-level [discussions] drilling down to low-level in-the-weeds questions.'
Americans for IVF is a conservative group that promotes expanded access to IVF as a 'pro-family' and 'pro-life' issue.
'I am optimistic, highly optimistic, that this administration is taking this issue more seriously than any other administration I've been in contact with,' Silverberg said.
Trump's executive order called for a report with recommendations to protect access and 'aggressively' reduce 'out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.'
The average cost for one cycle of IVF is about $15,000, and many patients require multiple cycles before a successful pregnancy is achieved.
Trump vowed during the 2024 presidential campaign that he would ensure IVF treatments would be covered by the government or that the government would require insurance companies to cover it. Such a move would almost certainly drive up health insurance costs.
IVF became a campaign issue after a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos should be considered as children and therefore discarding them is criminal. The ruling temporarily halted IVF services for many patients in Alabama.
Trump and other Republicans quickly distanced themselves from the ruling and talked about their support for IVF. Though Republicans hadn't directly opposed IVF access, Democrats tried to tie the issue to abortion.
But his executive order did not make any policy recommendations or endorsements. That's tempering expectations for what could come from the proposal.
'I think [the order] created a lot of buzz and excitement,' Farnsworth said. 'But there's not any certainty in what was said, except that it's asking for proposals. And where those proposals go, it's hard to know.'
Still, he added that even if the report recommends incremental change, it would move IVF policy forward.
'It's really encouraging that there is a U.S. president that's even talking about this,' Farnsworth said.
Infertility remains a common problem among Americans, and many insurance companies or employers don't cover the costs.
Yet other conservative groups that have the ear of the White House are less supportive of broad IVF coverage mandates. The Heritage Foundation, for instance, wants tighter regulation of the IVF industry and a focus on 'restorative reproductive medicine.'
The idea is to treat the root cause of infertility directly, rather than try to circumvent it with a medical intervention like IVF. Assisted reproductive technology should be a last resort, the group says.
Anti-abortion Christians also oppose IVF because they view embryos as humans, a position that has put many Republicans in a bind, given IVF clinics regularly dispose of unused embryos.
Silverberg said he understands the White House has been soliciting many opinions, but he hopes the report will reflect medical perspectives. However, two of the primary advocacy groups representing medical providers and patients said they were not involved in the process.
'Over the last 10 years, we have led efforts in the states that have led to improved coverage for 60 million people, but for some reason, this White House doesn't want to talk to us,' said Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Tipton said his organization reached out to White House officials through emails and letters but never heard back.
Another group, Resolve: The National Infertility Association, also was not involved in the report, the group's CEO Barbara Collura said.
'There are so many ways that this could go. It could be that the White House decides to study this more. It could be that the White House finds a small sector of coverage that they want to work on and that's it,' she said.
'Look, I have the President's promise on the campaign trail, we have the executive order, and that's all I have to go on right now.'
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